Display device and method of operating display panel

ABSTRACT

A display device includes: a display panel including a surrounding display area, below which at least one panel driving circuit is positioned, and a main display area surrounded by the surrounding display area, the display panel including first pixels having a first pixel density and disposed in the surrounding display area and second pixels having a second pixel density greater than the first pixel density and disposed in the main display area; and a display panel driver to divide an input image to be displayed on the display panel in each frame into a first image to be displayed on the surrounding display area and a second image to be displayed on the main display area, calculate a luminance deviation of the first image, and determine whether to display the first image in the surrounding display area based on the luminance deviation of the first image.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2020-0128356, filed on Oct. 5, 2020, which is herebyincorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND Field

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to a display device and amethod of operating the display device and more specifically, to adisplay device having a display area at edges thereof and a method ofoperating the display device.

Discussion of the Background

In general, a display device may include a display panel and a displaypanel driver. The display panel may include pixels and display an imagecorresponding to input image data by using the pixels. The display panelmay be connected to the display panel driver through scan lines and datalines. The display panel driver may include a scan driver that providesa scan signal to the display panel through the scan lines, data driverthat provides a data voltage to the display panel through the datalines, and a timing controller that controls the scan driver and thedata driver.

Meanwhile, the area occupied by driving circuits included in the displaypanel driver defines a bezel part in the display device, and a size of adisplay area for displaying an image on the display panel is limited dueto the bezel part. However, since the driving circuits are essentialcomponents in the display device, it is impossible to completely removethe bezel part.

In order to improve the problem, a pixel on driver (or POD) technologyexpands the display area while maintaining the bezel part by adding asurrounding display area above the driving circuits. However, since thesurrounding display area has a low pixels per unit inch (PPI), there isa limit in that a boundary with the main display area is visuallyrecognized.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only forunderstanding of the background of the inventive concepts, and,therefore, it may contain information that does not constitute priorart.

SUMMARY

Display devices constructed according to the principles of the inventionare capable of increasing or maximizing a display area of the displaydevices by decreasing or minimizing a bezel area of the display devices,in which driving circuits of the display devices are disposed. Thedisplay devices constructed according to the principles of the inventioninclude a display panel and a display panel driver. The display panelincludes a surrounding display area below which at least one paneldriving circuit is positioned. The display panel driver determines adisplay area of an image to be displayed on the display panel accordingto a luminance deviation of an image displayed in the surroundingdisplay area. Accordingly, the display area of the display devices canextend. In addition, the boundary between the image displayed in thesurrounding display area and the image displayed in the main displayarea of the display device cannot be visually recognized.

Methods of operating display devices according to the principles of theinvention are capable of preventing or minimizing user's visualrecognition of a boundary between a display area and a bezel area, inwhich driving circuits of the display devices are disposed.

Additional features of the inventive concepts will be set forth in thedescription which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the inventive concepts.

According to an aspect of the invention, a display device includes: adisplay panel including a surrounding display area, below which at leastone panel driving circuit is positioned, and a main display areasurrounded by the surrounding display area, the display panel includingfirst pixels having a first pixel density and disposed in thesurrounding display area and second pixels having a second pixel densitygreater than the first pixel density and disposed in the main displayarea; and a display panel driver configured to divide an input image tobe displayed on the display panel in each frame into a first image to bedisplayed on the surrounding display area and a second image to bedisplayed on the main display area, calculate a luminance deviation ofthe first image, and determine whether to display the first image in thesurrounding display area based on the luminance deviation of the firstimage.

The display panel driver may include a data corrector for downscaling orcropping the input image by correcting input image data corresponding tothe input image based on the luminance deviation of the first image.

The data corrector may be configured to correct the input image datasuch that the first image may not be displayed in the surroundingdisplay area and the second image may be displayed in the main displayarea when the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than areference luminance deviation.

The data corrector may be configured to correct the input image datasuch that the second image may be displayed in the main display area andan edge image of the second image may be expanded and displayed in thesurrounding display area when the luminance deviation of the first imageis greater than a reference luminance deviation.

The data corrector may be configured to additionally correct the inputimage data such that a luminance of the surrounding display area may bedecreased as a distance from the main display area may be increased whenthe edge image of the second image is expanded and displayed in thesurrounding display area.

The data corrector may be configured to correct the input image datasuch that the first image may not be displayed in the surroundingdisplay area and the first image and the second image may be displayedin the main display area when the luminance deviation of the first imageis greater than a reference luminance deviation.

The data corrector may be configured to correct the input image datasuch that the first image and the second image may be displayed in themain display area and an edge image of the first image may be expandedand displayed in the surrounding display area when the luminancedeviation of the first image is greater than a reference luminancedeviation.

The data corrector may be configured to additionally correct the inputimage data such that a luminance of the surrounding display area may bedecreased as a distance from the main display area may be increased whenthe edge image of the first image is expanded and displayed in thesurrounding display area.

The data corrector may be configured to correct the input image datasuch that the first image may be displayed in the surrounding displayarea, the second image may be displayed in the main display area, and aboundary between the surrounding display area and the main display areamay be prevented from being visually recognized to a user when theluminance deviation of the first image is smaller than a referenceluminance deviation.

The data corrector may be configured to additionally correct the inputimage data such that a luminance of the surrounding display area may bedecreased as a distance from the main display area may be increased whenthe first image is displayed in the surrounding display area.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of operating adisplay panel having a main display area and a surrounding display areasurrounding the main display area includes the steps of: driving thedisplay panel and dividing an input image to be displayed on the displaypanel in each frame into a first image to be displayed in thesurrounding display area and a second image to be displayed in the maindisplay area; calculating a luminance deviation of the first image; anddetermining whether to display the first image in the surroundingdisplay area based on the luminance deviation of the first image,wherein the display panel includes at least one panel driving circuitdisposed under the surrounding display area, first pixels having a firstpixel density and disposed in the surrounding display area, and secondpixels having a second pixel density greater than the first pixeldensity and disposed in the main display area.

The method may further include the step of: downscaling or cropping theinput image by correcting input image data corresponding to the inputimage based on the luminance deviation of the first image.

The step of cropping of the input image may include the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that the first image may not bedisplayed in the surrounding display area and the second image may bedisplayed in the main display area when the luminance deviation of thefirst image is greater than a reference luminance deviation.

The step of cropping of the input image may include the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that the second image may bedisplayed in the main display area and an edge image of the second imagemay be expanded and displayed in the surrounding display area when theluminance deviation of the first image is greater than a referenceluminance deviation.

The step of cropping of the input image may further include the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that a luminance of the surroundingdisplay area is decreased as a distance from the main display area isincreased when the edge image of the second image is expanded anddisplayed in the surrounding display area.

The step of downscaling of the input image may include the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that the first image may not bedisplayed in the surrounding display area and the first image and thesecond image may be displayed in the main display area when theluminance deviation of the first image is greater than a referenceluminance deviation.

The step of downscaling of the input image may include the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that the first image and the secondimage may be displayed in the main display area and an edge image of thefirst image may be expanded and displayed in the surrounding displayarea when the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than areference luminance deviation.

The step of downscaling of the input image may further include the stepof correcting the input image data such that a luminance of thesurrounding display area may be decreased as a distance from the maindisplay area may be increased when the edge image of the first image isexpanded and displayed in the surrounding display area.

The step of correcting of the input image data may include the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that the first image may bedisplayed in the surrounding display area, the second image may bedisplayed in the main display area, and a boundary between thesurrounding display area and the main display area may be prevented frombeing visually recognized to a user when the luminance deviation of thefirst image is smaller than a reference luminance deviation.

The step of correcting of the input image data may further include thestep of correcting the input image data such that a luminance of thesurrounding display area may be decreased as a distance from the maindisplay area may be increased when the first image is displayed in thesurrounding display area.

According to still another aspect of the invention, the display deviceincludes: a display panel comprising a surrounding display area, belowwhich at least one panel driving circuit is positioned, and a maindisplay area surrounded by the surrounding display area, the displaypanel comprising first pixels having a first size and disposed in thesurrounding display area and second pixels having a second size smallerthan the first size and disposed in the main display area; and a displaypanel driver configured to divide an input image to be displayed on thedisplay panel in each frame into a first image to be displayed on thesurrounding display area and a second image to be displayed on the maindisplay area, calculate a luminance deviation of the first image, anddetermine whether to display the first image in the surrounding displayarea based on the luminance deviation of the first image.

According to still another aspect of the invention, a method ofoperating a display panel having a main display area and a surroundingdisplay area surrounding the main display area includes the steps of:driving the display panel and dividing an input image to be displayed onthe display panel in each frame into a first image to be displayed inthe surrounding display area and a second image to be displayed in themain display area; calculating a luminance deviation of the first image;and determining whether to display the first image in the surroundingdisplay area based on the luminance deviation of the first image,wherein the display panel comprises at least one panel driving circuitdisposed under the surrounding display area, first pixels having a firstsize and disposed in the surrounding display area, and second pixelshaving a second size smaller than the first size and disposed in themain display area.

The display device according to the embodiments of the present inventiveconcept may include a display panel and a display panel driver. Thedisplay panel may include a surrounding display area below which atleast one panel driving circuit is positioned. The display panel drivermay determine a display area of an image to be displayed on the displaypanel according to a luminance deviation of an image displayed in thesurrounding display area. Accordingly, the display area of the displaydevice can extend. In addition, the boundary between the image displayedin the surrounding display area and the image displayed in the maindisplay area of the display device cannot be visually recognized.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are illustrative and explanatory andare intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate illustrative embodiments of theinvention, and together with the description serve to explain theinventive concepts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a display deviceconstructed according to the principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a display panel included in the display deviceof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view illustrating an example in which animage is displayed on a part of the display panel of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a data corrector included in the displaydevice of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example in which the datacorrector of FIG. 4 determines whether to display a first image in asurrounding display area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the data correctorof FIG. 4 performs a cropping operation with respect to an entire image.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged diagram illustrating an example in which the datacorrector of FIG. 4 performs a cropping operation with respect to anentire image.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the data correctorof FIG. 4 performs a downscaling operation with respect to an entireimage.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged diagram illustrating an example in which the datacorrector of FIG. 4 performs a downscaling operation with respect to anentire image.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example in which the datacorrector of FIG. 4 displays a first image in the surrounding displayarea.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic device withthe display device of FIG. 1 constructed according to the principles ofthe invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a phone with thedisplay device of FIG. 1 constructed according to the principles of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of various embodiments or implementations of theinvention. As used herein “embodiments” and “implementations” areinterchangeable words that are non-limiting examples of devices ormethods employing one or more of the inventive concepts disclosedherein. It is apparent, however, that various embodiments may bepracticed without these specific details or with one or more equivalentarrangements. In other instances, well-known structures and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuringvarious embodiments. Further, various embodiments may be different, butdo not have to be exclusive. For example, specific shapes,configurations, and characteristics of an embodiment may be used orimplemented in another embodiment without departing from the inventiveconcepts.

Unless otherwise specified, the illustrated embodiments are to beunderstood as providing illustrative features of varying detail of someways in which the inventive concepts may be implemented in practice.Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the features, components,modules, layers, films, panels, regions, and/or aspects, etc.(hereinafter individually or collectively referred to as “elements”), ofthe various embodiments may be otherwise combined, separated,interchanged, and/or rearranged without departing from the inventiveconcepts.

The use of cross-hatching and/or shading in the accompanying drawings isgenerally provided to clarify boundaries between adjacent elements. Assuch, neither the presence nor the absence of cross-hatching or shadingconveys or indicates any preference or requirement for particularmaterials, material properties, dimensions, proportions, commonalitiesbetween illustrated elements, and/or any other characteristic,attribute, property, etc., of the elements, unless specified. Further,in the accompanying drawings, the size and relative sizes of elementsmay be exaggerated for clarity and/or descriptive purposes. When anembodiment may be implemented differently, a specific process order maybe performed differently from the described order. For example, twoconsecutively described processes may be performed substantially at thesame time or performed in an order opposite to the described order.Also, like reference numerals denote like elements.

When an element, such as a layer, is referred to as being “on,”“connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may bedirectly on, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer orintervening elements or layers may be present. When, however, an elementor layer is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,”or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are nointervening elements or layers present. To this end, the term“connected” may refer to physical, electrical, and/or fluid connection,with or without intervening elements. Further, the D1-axis, the D2-axis,and the D3-axis are not limited to three axes of a rectangularcoordinate system, such as the x, y, and z-axes, and may be interpretedin a broader sense. For example, the D1-axis, the D2-axis, and theD3-axis may be perpendicular to one another, or may represent differentdirections that are not perpendicular to one another. For the purposesof this disclosure, “at least one of X, Y, and Z” and “at least oneselected from the group consisting of X, Y, and Z” may be construed as Xonly, Y only, Z only, or any combination of two or more of X, Y, and Z,such as, for instance, XYZ, XYY, YZ, and ZZ. As used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items.

Although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein todescribe various types of elements, these elements should not be limitedby these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element fromanother element. Thus, a first element discussed below could be termed asecond element without departing from the teachings of the disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “under,” “lower,”“above,” “upper,” “over,” “higher,” “side” (e.g., as in “sidewall”), andthe like, may be used herein for descriptive purposes, and, thereby, todescribe one elements relationship to another element(s) as illustratedin the drawings. Spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of an apparatus in use, operation, and/ormanufacture in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. Forexample, if the apparatus in the drawings is turned over, elementsdescribed as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would thenbe oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the term“below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below.Furthermore, the apparatus may be otherwise oriented (e.g., rotated 90degrees or at other orientations), and, as such, the spatially relativedescriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms, “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Moreover,the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,”when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one ormore other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof. It is also noted that, as used herein, the terms“substantially,” “about,” and other similar terms, are used as terms ofapproximation and not as terms of degree, and, as such, are utilized toaccount for inherent deviations in measured, calculated, and/or providedvalues that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art.

As is customary in the field, some embodiments are described andillustrated in the accompanying drawings in terms of functional blocks,units, and/or modules. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthese blocks, units, and/or modules are physically implemented byelectronic (or optical) circuits, such as logic circuits, discretecomponents, microprocessors, hard-wired circuits, memory elements,wiring connections, and the like, which may be formed usingsemiconductor-based fabrication techniques or other manufacturingtechnologies. In the case of the blocks, units, and/or modules beingimplemented by microprocessors or other similar hardware, they may beprogrammed and controlled using software (e.g., microcode) to performvarious functions discussed herein and may optionally be driven byfirmware and/or software. It is also contemplated that each block, unit,and/or module may be implemented by dedicated hardware, or as acombination of dedicated hardware to perform some functions and aprocessor (e.g., one or more programmed microprocessors and associatedcircuitry) to perform other functions. Also, each block, unit, and/ormodule of some embodiments may be physically separated into two or moreinteracting and discrete blocks, units, and/or modules without departingfrom the scope of the inventive concepts. Further, the blocks, units,and/or modules of some embodiments may be physically combined into morecomplex blocks, units, and/or modules without departing from the scopeof the inventive concepts.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure is a part. Terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and should not be interpreted in anidealized or overly formal sense, unless expressly so defined herein.

Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals areused for the same components in the drawings, and redundant descriptionsof the same components will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a display device according to oneembodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a displaypanel included in the display device of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the display device 10 may include a displaypanel 100 and a display panel driver 120. The display panel driver 120may include a timing controller 200, a data corrector 210, a gate driver300, a gamma reference voltage generator 400, and a data driver 500.

The display panel 100 may include a display region for displaying animage and a peripheral region disposed adjacent to the display region.

The display panel 100 may include pixels P and display an imagecorresponding to input image data IMG by using the pixels P. The gatelines GL1 to GLj may extend in a first direction D1, and the data linesDL1 to DLi may extend in a second direction D2 intersecting the firstdirection D1.

The display region for displaying an image of the display panel 100 mayinclude a surrounding display area SA and a main display area MA. Themain display area MA may be surrounded by the surrounding display areaSA. First pixels PX1 having a first size may be disposed in thesurrounding display area SA, and second pixels PX2 having a second sizedifferent from the first size may be disposed in the main display areaMA. The number of pixels per unit inch (or referred to as PPI) of thesurrounding display area SA may be lower than the number of pixels perunit inch of the main display area MA. For example, the PPI of the firstpixels PX1 in the surrounding display area SA may be smaller than thePPI of the second pixels PX2 in the main display area MA. For example,the first pixels PX1 in the surrounding display area SA may have a firstpixel density, and the second pixels PX2 in the main display area MA mayhave a second pixel density greater than the first pixel density of thefirst pixels PX1. For example, the distances between the first pixelsPX1 in the surrounding display area SA may be longer than the distancesbetween the second pixels PX2 in the main display area MA.

At least one panel driving circuit may be positioned under thesurrounding display area SA. The panel driving circuit positioned underthe surrounding display area SA may include the timing controller. Thepanel driving circuit positioned under the surrounding display area SAmay include the gate driver. The panel driving circuit positioned underthe surrounding display area SA may include the data driver. The paneldriving circuit positioned under the surrounding display area SA mayinclude a gamma reference voltage generator. Accordingly, the displaypanel according to an embodiment may provide a display area wider than ageneral display panel by displaying an image in the surrounding displayarea SA while maintaining a bezel part.

The timing controller 200 may receive input image data IMG and an inputcontrol signal CONT from an external device. For example, the inputimage data IMG received from the external device may include red imagedata, green image data, and blue image data. According to an embodiment,the input image data IMG may further include white image data. Foranother example, the input image data IMG may include magenta imagedata, yellow image data, and cyan image data. Further, the input controlsignal CONT may include a master clock signal, a data enable signal, avertical sync signal, a horizontal sync signal, and the like.

The timing controller 200 may generate a first control signal CONT1, asecond control signal CONT2, a third control signal CONT3, and a datasignal DATA, based on the input image data IMG and the input controlsignal CONT.

The timing controller 200 may generate the first control signal CONT1for controlling an operation of the gate driver 300 based on the inputcontrol signal CONT to output the first control signal CONT1 to the gatedriver 300. The first control signal CONT1 may include a vertical startsignal and a gate clock signal.

The timing controller 200 may generate the second control signal CONT2for controlling an operation of the data driver 500 based on the inputcontrol signal CONT to output the second control signal CONT2 to thedata driver 500. The second control signal CONT2 may include ahorizontal start signal and a load signal.

The timing controller 200 may generate the data signal DATA based on theinput image data IMG. The timing controller 200 may output the generateddata signal DATA to the data driver 500.

The timing controller 200 may generate the third control signal CONT3for controlling an operation of the gamma reference voltage generator400 based on the input control signal CONT. The timing controller 200may output the generated third control signal CONT3 to the gammareference voltage generator 400.

The data corrector 210 may divide an input image in the form of theentire image to be displayed on the display panel in every frame into afirst image to be displayed on the surrounding display area SA and asecond image to be displayed on the main display area MA. In addition,the data corrector 210 may calculate a luminance deviation of the firstimage and determine whether the first image is displayed on thesurrounding display area SA based on the luminance deviation of thefirst image. The arrangement of the data corrector 210 of FIG. 1 is anexample according to one embodiment. The data corrector 210 may bepositioned inside the timing controller so as to be a part of the timingcontroller, or may be positioned outside the timing controller so as totransmit or receive signals with the timing controller.

The gate driver 300 may generate gate signals, which are supplied todriving gate lines GL1 to GLj, in response to the first control signalCONT1 received from the timing controller 200. The gate driver 300 mayoutput the generated gate signals to the gate lines GL1 to GLj. Forexample, the gate driver 300 may sequentially output the gate signals tothe gate lines GL1 to GLj. According to an embodiment, the gate driver300 may be mounted on a periphery of the display panel.

The gamma reference voltage generator 400 may generate a gamma referencevoltage VGREF in response to the third control signal CONT3 receivedfrom the timing controller 200. The gamma reference voltage generator400 may provide the generated gamma reference voltage VGREF to the datadriver 500. The gamma reference voltage VGREF provided to the datadriver 500 may have a value corresponding to each data signal DATA.According to an embodiment, the gamma reference voltage generator 400may be disposed in the timing controller 200 or may be disposed in thedata driver 500.

The data driver 500 may receive the second control signal CONT2 and thedata signal DATA from the timing controller 200, and receive the gammareference voltage VGREF from the gamma reference voltage generator 400.The data driver 500 may convert the data signal DATA having a digitalformat (e.g., pulse voltages) into a data voltage having an analogformat (e.g., wave voltages) by using the gamma reference voltage VGREF.The data driver 500 may output the data voltage to the data lines DL1 toDLi (where i is an integer of 2 or more).

FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagram illustrating an example in which an imageis displayed on a part 110 of the display panel of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the display unit for displaying an image ofthe display panel 100 may include a surrounding display area SA and amain display area MA. The main display area MA may be entirely orpartially surrounded by the surrounding display area SA. According to anembodiment, the second image may be displayed on the main display areaMA, and the first image may be displayed on the surrounding displayarea. The second image may include A and B, and the first image mayinclude C, D, E, F, and G. However, the first image and the second imageof FIG. 3 merely are examples for illustrating each display area.

At least one panel driving circuit may be positioned under thesurrounding display area SA. Thus, the display panel according to anembodiment may display an image in the surrounding display area SA whilemaintaining the bezel part so as to provide a display area wider than ageneral display panel.

The second pixels PX2 having the second size may be disposed in the maindisplay area MA. The second size may be smaller than the first size ofthe first pixels PX1 in the surrounding display area SA. In other words,the number of pixels per unit inch (PPI) of the main display area MA maybe greater than the number of pixels per unit inch (PPI) of thesurrounding display area SA. For example, the first pixels PX1 havingthe first size may be disposed in the surrounding display area SA. Thefirst size may be greater than the second size of the second pixels PX2in the main display area MA. In other words, the number of pixels perunit inch (PPI) of the surrounding display area SA may be lower than thenumber of pixels per unit inch (PPI) of the main display area MA.Accordingly, a luminance deviation in the surrounding display area SAmay be relatively greater than that in the main display area MA. Whenthe image is displayed in the display panel, a boundary between thesurrounding display area SA and the main display area MA may be visuallyrecognized by the user. The data corrector 210 may perform a datacorrection on an input image to prevent the above boundary from beingvisually recognized. The data corrector 210 will be described in detailwith reference to FIGS. 1 and 4.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the data corrector 210 includedin the display device of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating anexample in which the data corrector 210 of FIG. 4 determines whether todisplay a first image in the surrounding display area SA.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the data corrector 210 may include animage divider 220, a luminance deviation calculator 230, and an imagecorrector 240. The data corrector 210 may be positioned inside thetiming controller so as to be a part of the timing controller, or may bepositioned outside the timing controller so as to transmit or receivesignals with the timing controller.

The image divider 220 may divide an input image in the form of theentire image to be displayed on the display panel into a first image tobe displayed on the surrounding display area SA and a second image to bedisplayed on the main display area MA (S220). The luminance deviationcalculator 230 may calculate a luminance deviation of the first image(S230). The image corrector 240 may compare the luminance deviation ofthe first image with a reference luminance deviation to determine adisplay area for displaying the first image (S240), and correct theinput image data IMG (including the first image) such that the firstimage is not displayed in the surrounding display area SA (S241) or isdisplayed in the surrounding display area SA (S242). The abovecorrection of the input image data IMG may be performed by every frame.

As described above, the image divider 220 may divide the entire image tobe displayed on the display panel into a first image to be displayed onthe surrounding display area SA and a second image to be displayed onthe main display area MA (S220). The image divider 220 may determine theentire image to be displayed on the display panel as the first image tobe displayed on the surrounding display area SA and the second image tobe displayed on the main display area MA, based on the input image dataIMG. The image divider 220 may transmit data corresponding to the firstimage and data corresponding to the second image to the luminancedeviation calculator 230.

The luminance deviation calculator 230 may calculate a luminancedeviation of the first image (S230). The luminance deviation calculator230 may receive the data corresponding to the first image from the imagedivider 220. The luminance deviation calculator 230 may calculate theluminance deviation of the first image by converting the datacorresponding to the first image into a corresponding gray scale valueand by calculating a deviation between the lowest gray scale value ofthe pixels and the average gray scale value of the pixels.

Specifically, the data corresponding to the first image inputted to theluminance deviation calculator 230 may include information of theluminance (e.g., luminance data) of the first image. The luminance dataof the first image may include gray scales with a predetermined unit.For example, the luminance data of the first image may have 1024, 256,or 64 gray scales. In one embodiment, the gray scale value of the firstimage displayed in the surrounding display area SA may be determinedbased on a look up table in which gray scale values are definedaccording to values of luminance data. In another embodiment, the grayscale value of the first image displayed in the surrounding display areaSA may be determined by a gamma curve illustrating gray scale valuesaccording to values of luminance data. The luminance deviationcalculator 230 may convert the luminance data of the first image into acorresponding gray scale value, based on the lookup table in which grayscale values are defined according to values of luminance data or thegamma curve illustrating gray scale values according to values ofluminance data. When the luminance deviation of the first image iscalculated by using the corresponding gray scale value, which isdetermined based on the lookup table, a more substantial luminancedeviation may be calculated than when the luminance deviation iscalculated by using the luminance data of the first image. For example,the luminance deviation of the first image, which is calculated based onthe gray scale value corresponding to the luminance date of the firstimage, may be more accurate and precise than the luminance deviation ofthe first image, which is calculated based on the luminance date of thefirst image.

Specifically, the luminance deviation calculator 230 may calculate theluminance deviation of the first image by calculating a deviationbetween the lowest gray scale value of the first pixels PX1 arranged inthe surrounding display area SA and the average gray scale value of thefirst pixels PX1. For example, the luminance deviation of the firstimage may be calculated by obtaining a difference between the averagegray scale value of the first pixels PX1 and the lowest gray scale valueof the first pixels PX1, dividing the difference between the gray scalevalues by the average gray scale value of the first pixels PX1, andmultiplying by 100. In other words, the luminance deviation may beexpressed as follows: the luminance deviation=((average gray scale valueof first pixels−lowest gray scale value of first pixels)/(average grayscale value of first pixels))*100. The luminance deviation calculator230 may transmit the calculated luminance deviation of the first imageto the image corrector 240.

The image corrector 240 may compare (S240) the luminance deviation ofthe first image with a reference luminance deviation to determine adisplay area for displaying the first is image (i.e., to determine wherethe first image is displayed). For example, according to the result ofthe comparison between the luminance deviation of the first image andthe reference luminance deviation, the image corrector 240 may correctthe input image data IMG (including the first image) such that the firstimage is not displayed in the surrounding display area SA (S241) or isdisplayed in the surrounding display area SA (S242).

For example, the reference luminance deviation used as a criterion fordetermining the luminance deviation of the first image may be stored inan internal memory of the image corrector 240. When the luminancedeviation of the first image is greater than the reference luminancedeviation, a boundary between the surrounding display area SA and themain display area MA may be visually recognized by the user. Thereference luminance deviation may be a value inputted by the user. Thereference luminance deviation may have different values according to theinput image data IMG. The reference luminance deviation may havedifferent values according to the number of pixels per unit inch (PPI)of the surrounding display area SA. The image corrector 240 may comparethe luminance deviation of the first image calculated by the luminancedeviation calculator 230 with the reference luminance deviation.

Specifically, the image corrector 240 may determine whether the firstimage is displayed in the surrounding display area SA based on theluminance deviation of the first image, and correct the input image dataIMG (e.g., the first image) to generate corrected image data IMG′ (e.g.,the corrected first image). For example, when the luminance deviation ofthe first image is greater than the reference luminance deviation, theimage corrector 240 may correct the input image data IMG correspondingto the entire image to prevent the first image from being displayed inthe surrounding display area SA. When the luminance deviation of thefirst image is less than or equal to the reference luminance deviation,the image corrector 240 may correct the input image data IMGcorresponding to the entire image, so that the first image is displayedin the surrounding display area SA.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the data corrector210 of FIG. 4 performs a cropping operation with respect to the entireimage. FIG. 7 is an enlarged diagram illustrating an example in whichthe data corrector 210 of FIG. 4 performs a cropping operation withrespect to the entire image.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, when the luminance deviation ofthe first image is greater than the reference luminance deviation, theimage corrector 240 may perform the correction operation on the firstimage such that the first image is not displayed in the surroundingdisplay area SA (S241). The image corrector 240 may perform a croppingoperation such that the second image is displayed in the main displayarea MA (S251). The image corrector 240 may determine whether thesurrounding display area SA is required to be used (S260). The imagecorrector 240 may perform a correction such that an edge image of thesecond image is displayed while expanding in the surrounding displayarea SA (S261). The image corrector 240 may determine whether additionalcompensation for the luminance data of the second image, which isdisplayed in the surrounding display area SA, is necessary (S270). Theimage corrector 240 may correct the input image data IMG, so that theluminance of the surrounding display area SA decreases as a distancefrom the main display area MA increases (S280). The image corrector 240may output the corrected image data IMG′ (S290).

When the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than thereference luminance deviation, the image corrector 240 may perform thecorrection of the input image data IMG (including the first image) suchthat the first image is not displayed in the surrounding display area SA(S241). In other words, the image corrector 240 may correct the inputimage data IMG corresponding to the entire image such that the firstimage is not displayed in the surrounding display area SA. The imagecorrector 240 may perform the cropping operation such that the secondimage is displayed in the main display area MA (S251). As a result, theimage corrector 240 may crop the entire image by correcting the inputimage data IMG corresponding to the entire image. For example, referringto the part 110 of the display panel of FIG. 3, the second image of theentire image according to the input image data IMG may display A and B,and the first image may display C, D, E, F, and G. When the imagecorrector 240 crops the input image data IMG, the second image (e.g., A,B) is displayed in the main display area MA, but the first image (e.g.,C, D, E, F, and G) may not be displayed in the surrounding display areaSA as shown in FIG. 7.

The image corrector 240 may determine whether the surrounding displayarea SA is required to be used (S260). When the surrounding display areaSA is used, there may be an effect of providing a wider display image tothe user compared to the case that only the main display area MA isused. The image corrector 240 may determine whether the surroundingdisplay area SA is necessary to be used, based on the number of pixelsper unit inch (PPI) of the first pixels PX1 and the luminance deviationof the image to be displayed. According to an embodiment, the necessityof using the surrounding display area SA may be determined according toa selection by the user. When the surrounding display area SA isnecessary to be used, the image corrector 240 may perform a correctionof input image data (including the second image) such that an edge imageof the second image is displayed while expanding in the surroundingdisplay area SA (S261). Specifically, an edge image of the second imagedisplayed in the main display area MA is copied and repeatedly displayedin the surrounding display area SA. Accordingly, a wide display imagemay be provided to a user while the possibility of visual recognition ofthe luminance deviation is minimized or prevented.

The image corrector 240 may determine whether additional compensationfor the luminance data of an image (e.g., the first or second image),which is displayed in the surrounding display area SA, is necessary(S270). When the edge image of the second image is expanded anddisplayed in the surrounding display area SA, the luminance deviationmay occur in an image displayed in the surrounding display area SA. Inorder to improve the above luminance deviation, the image corrector 240may determine whether additional compensation for the luminance data ofan image (e.g., the first or second image), which is displayed in thesurrounding display area SA, is necessary. The image corrector 240 maycorrect the input image data IMG so that the luminance of thesurrounding display area SA decreases as a distance from the maindisplay area MA increases so as to additionally compensate for theluminance data of an image (e.g., the first or second image), which isdisplayed in the surrounding display area SA (S280). Specifically, theimage corrector 240 may divide the surrounding display area SA intofirst to k-th sub-surrounding display areas SA (where k is an integer of2 or more). The first sub-surrounding display area SA may be adjacent tothe main display area MA, and the k-th sub-surrounding display area SAmay be adjacent to an edge area of the surrounding display area SA. Thesub-surrounding display areas SA may be disposed at the same interval.The image corrector 240 may correct the second image such that aluminance of the edge image of the second image displayed in the m-thsub-surrounding display area SA is greater than a luminance of the edgeimage of the second image displayed in the (m+1)-th sub-surroundingdisplay area SA (where, m is an integer more than or equal to 1 and lessthan k). The image corrector 240 may output the above corrected imagedata IMG′ (S290). In other words, the image of the surrounding displayarea SA may have a gradation effect while the luminance decreasing asthe edge images of the second image are farther from the main displayarea MA. Accordingly, the user may not visually recognize the luminancedeviation of the display image while watching the display image in awide area.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the data corrector210 of FIG. 4 performs a downscaling operation with respect to theentire image. FIG. 9 is an enlarged diagram illustrating an example inwhich the data corrector 210 of FIG. 4 performs the downscalingoperation with respect to the entire image.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9, when the luminance deviation ofthe first image is greater than the reference luminance deviation, theimage corrector 240 may perform the correction such that the first imageis not displayed in the surrounding display area SA (S241). The imagecorrector 240 may perform the downscaling operation such that the firstimage and the second image are displayed in the main display area MA(S252). The image corrector 240 may determine whether the surroundingdisplay area SA is required to be used (S260). The image corrector 240may perform a correction of input image data IMG (including the firstimage) such that an edge image of the first image is displayed whileexpanding in the surrounding display area SA (S262). The image corrector240 may determine whether additional compensation for the luminance dataof an image (e.g., the first or second image), which is displayed in thesurrounding display area SA, is necessary (S270). The image corrector240 may correct the input image data IMG so that the luminance of thesurrounding display area SA decreases as a distance from the maindisplay area MA increases (S280). The image corrector 240 may output thecorrected image data IMG′ (S290).

When the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than thereference luminance deviation, the image corrector 240 may perform thecorrection of input image data IMG (including the first image) such thatthe first image is not displayed in the surrounding display area SA(S241). In other words, the image corrector 240 may correct the inputimage data IMG corresponding to the entire image such that the firstimage is not displayed in the surrounding display area SA. The imagecorrector 240 may perform the downscaling operation such that the firstimage and the second image are displayed in the main display area MA. Asa result, the image corrector 240 may downscale the entire image bycorrecting the input image data IMG corresponding to the entire image.For example, referring to the part 110 of the display panel of FIG. 3,the second image of the entire image according to the input image dataIMG may display A and B, and the first image may display C, D, E, F, andG. When the image corrector 240 downscales the input image data IMG, thesecond image (e.g., A and B) and the first image (e.g., C, D, E, F, andG) may be displayed in the main display area MA as shown in FIG. 9.

The image corrector 240 may determine whether the surrounding displayarea SA is required to be used (S260). When the surrounding display areaSA is used, there may be an advantage of providing a wider display imageto the user compared to the case that only the main display area MA isused. The image corrector 240 may determine whether the surroundingdisplay area SA is necessary to be used, based on the number of pixelsper unit inch (PPI) of the first pixels PX1 and the luminance deviationof the image to be displayed. According to an embodiment, the necessityof using the surrounding display area SA may be determined according toa selection by the user. When the surrounding display area SA isnecessary to be used, the image corrector 240 may perform a correctionof input image data (including the first image) such that an edge imageof the first image is displayed while expanding in the surroundingdisplay area SA (S262). Specifically, an edge image of the first imagedisplayed in the main display area MA is copied and repeatedly displayedin the surrounding display area SA. Accordingly, a wide display imagemay be provided to a user while the possibility of visual recognition ofthe luminance deviation is minimized or prevented.

The image corrector 240 may determine whether additional compensationfor the luminance data of an image (e.g., the first or second image),which is displayed in the surrounding display area SA, is necessary(S270). When the edge image of the first image is expanded and displayedin the surrounding display area SA, the luminance deviation may occur inan image displayed in the surrounding display area SA. In order toimprove the above luminance deviation, the image corrector 240 maydetermine whether additional compensation for the luminance data of animage (e.g., the first or second image), which is displayed in thesurrounding display area SA, is necessary. The image corrector 240 maycorrect the input image data IMG so that the luminance of thesurrounding display area SA decreases as a distance from the maindisplay area MA increases so as to additionally compensate for theluminance data of an image (e.g., the first or second image), which isdisplayed in the surrounding display area SA (S280). Specifically, theimage corrector 240 may divide the surrounding display area SA intofirst to k-th sub-surrounding display areas SA (where k is an integer of2 or more). The first sub-surrounding display area SA may be adjacent tothe main display area MA, and the k-th sub-surrounding display area SAmay be adjacent to an edge area of the surrounding display area SA. Thesub-surrounding display areas SA may be disposed at the same interval.The image corrector 240 may correct the second image such that aluminance of the edge image of the first image displayed in the m-thsub-surrounding display area SA is greater than a luminance of the edgeimage of the first image displayed in the (m+1)-th sub-surroundingdisplay area SA (where, m is an integer more than or equal to 1 and lessthan k). The image corrector 240 may output the above corrected imagedata IMG′ (S290). In other words, the image of the surrounding displayarea SA may have a gradation effect while the luminance decreasing asthe edge images of the first image are farther from the main displayarea MA. Accordingly, the user may not visually recognize the luminancedeviation of the display image while watching the display image in awide area.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example in which the datacorrector 210 of FIG. 4 displays the first image in the surroundingdisplay area SA.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 10, when the luminance deviation of thefirst image is smaller than the reference luminance deviation, the imagecorrector 240 may perform the correction such that the first image isdisplayed in the surrounding display area SA (S242). The image corrector240 may determine whether additional compensation for the luminance dataof an image (e.g., the first or second image), which is displayed in thesurrounding display area SA, is necessary (S270). The image corrector240 may correct the input image data IMG so that the luminance of thesurrounding display area SA decreases as a distance from the maindisplay area MA increases (S280). The image corrector 240 may output thecorrected image data IMG′ (S290).

When the luminance deviation of the first image is smaller than thereference luminance deviation, the image corrector 240 may perform thecorrection such that the first image is displayed in the surroundingdisplay area SA (S242). In other words, the image corrector 240 maydivide the input image data IMG corresponding to the entire image intothe first image and the second image, and output image data such thatthe first image is displayed in the surrounding display area SA and thesecond image is displayed in the main display area MA. In other words,when the luminance deviation of the first image is smaller than thereference luminance deviation, since it is difficult for the user torecognize the luminance deviation of the surrounding display area SA,the first image may be displayed in the surrounding display area SA. Theimage corrector 240 may correct the input image data IMG to prevent theboundary between the surrounding display area SA and the main displayarea MA from being visually recognized by the user.

For example, the image corrector 240 may determine whether additionalcompensation for the luminance data of an image (e.g., the first orsecond image), which is displayed in the surrounding display area SA, isnecessary (S270). The luminance deviation of the first image also mayoccur in the surrounding display area SA when the luminance deviation ofthe first image is smaller than the reference luminance deviation. Inorder to improve the above luminance deviation, the image corrector 240may determine whether additional compensation for the luminance data ofan image (e.g., the first or second image), which is displayed in thesurrounding display area SA, is necessary. The image corrector 240 maycorrect the input image data IMG so that the luminance of thesurrounding display area SA decreases as a distance from the maindisplay area MA increases (S280). Specifically, the image corrector 240may divide the surrounding display area SA into first to k-thsub-surrounding display areas SA (where k is an integer of 2 or more),and divide the first image into a plurality of sub-first imagescorresponding to a plurality of sub-surrounding display areas SA,respectively. The first sub-surrounding display area SA may be adjacentto the main display area MA, and the k-th sub-surrounding display areaSA may be adjacent to an edge area of the surrounding display area SA.The sub-surrounding display areas SA may be disposed at the sameinterval. The image corrector 240 may perform the correction such thatthe luminance of the image displayed in the m-th sub-surrounding displayarea SA is greater than the luminance of the image displayed in the(m+1)-th sub-surrounding display area SA (where, m is an integer morethan or equal to 1 and less than k). The image corrector 240 may outputthe above corrected image data IMG′ (S290). In other words, thesurrounding display area SA may have a gradation effect while theluminance decreasing as the first image is farther from the main displayarea MA. Accordingly, the user may not feel the luminance deviation ofthe display image while watching the display image in a wide area.

The display device including the data corrector 210 as described abovemay provide the user with a wide display area by displaying an image ona bezel of the display panel. In addition, the display device accordingto an embodiment may provide the user with an image having high qualityby preventing the boundary between the surrounding display area SA andthe main display area MA from being visibly recognized by the user.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device accordingto an embodiments. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example in whichthe electronic device of FIG. 11 is implemented as a smart phone.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the electronic device 1000 may include aprocessor 1010, a memory device 1020, a storage device 1030, aninput/output (I/O) device 1040, a power supply 1050, and a displaydevice 1060. Here, the display device 1060 may be the display device 10of FIG. 1. In addition, the electronic device 1000 may further include aplurality of ports for communicating with a video card, a sound card, amemory card, a universal serial bus (USB) device, other electronicdevice, and the like. In an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 12, theelectronic device 1000 may be implemented as a smart phone. However, theelectronic device 1000 is not limited thereto. For example, theelectronic device 1000 may be implemented as a cellular phone, a videophone, a smart pad, a smart watch, a tablet PC, a car navigation system,a computer monitor, a laptop, a head mounted display (HMD) device, andthe like.

The processor 1010 may perform various computing functions. Theprocessor 1010 may be a micro processor, a central processing unit(CPU), an application processor (AP), and the like. The processor 1010may be coupled to other components via an address bus, a control bus, adata bus, and the like. Further, the processor 1010 may be coupled to anextended bus such as a peripheral component interconnection (PCI) bus.The memory device 1020 may store data for operations of the electronicdevice 1000. For example, the memory device 1020 may include at is leastone non-volatile memory device such as an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM) device, an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM) device, a flash memory device, a phase changerandom access memory (PRAM) device, a resistance random access memory(RRAM) device, a nano floating gate memory (NFGM) device, a polymerrandom access memory (PoRAM) device, a magnetic random access memory(MRAM) device, a ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) device, andthe like and/or at least one volatile memory device such as a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM)device, a mobile DRAM device, and the like. The storage device 1030 mayinclude a solid state drive (SSD) device, a hard disk drive (HDD)device, a CD-ROM device, and the like. The I/O device 1040 may includean input device such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse device, atouch-pad, a touch-screen, and the like, and an output device such as aprinter, a speaker, and the like. In some embodiments, the I/O device1040 may include the display device 1060. The power supply 1050 mayprovide power for operations of the electronic device 1000.

The display device 1060 may display an image corresponding to visualinformation of the electronic device 1000. The display device 1060 mayinclude a display panel disposed with first pixels PX1 having a firstsize or a first pixel density, and including a surrounding display areabelow which at least one panel driving circuit is positioned, and a maindisplay area surrounded by the surrounding display area and disposedtherein with second pixels PX2 having a second size smaller than thefirst size or a second pixel density greater than the first pixeldensity and a display panel driver for driving the display panel andconfigured to divide an entire image to be displayed on the displaypanel in every frame into a first image to be displayed on thesurrounding display area and a second image to be displayed on the maindisplay area, calculate a luminance deviation of the first image, anddetermine whether to display the first image in the surrounding displayarea based on the luminance deviation of the first image. The displaydevice including the data corrector as described above may provide theuser with a wide display area by displaying an image on a bezel of thedisplay panel. In addition, the display device according to anembodiment may provide the user with an image having high quality bypreventing the boundary between the surrounding display area and themain display area from being visibly recognized. However, since theseare described above, duplicated description related thereto will not berepeated.

Although certain embodiments and implementations have been describedherein, other embodiments and modifications will be apparent from thisdescription. Accordingly, the inventive concepts are not limited to suchembodiments, but rather to the broader scope of the appended claims andvarious obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements as would beapparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display device comprising: a display panelcomprising a surrounding display area, below which at least one paneldriving circuit is positioned, and a main display area surrounded by thesurrounding display area, the display panel comprising first pixelshaving a first pixel density and disposed in the surrounding displayarea and second pixels having a second pixel density greater than thefirst pixel density and disposed in the main display area; and a displaypanel driver configured to divide an input image to be displayed on thedisplay panel in each frame into a first image to be displayed on thesurrounding display area and a second image to be displayed on the maindisplay area, calculate a luminance deviation of the first image, anddetermine whether to display the first image in the surrounding displayarea based on the luminance deviation of the first image.
 2. The displaydevice of claim 1, wherein the display panel driver comprises a datacorrector for downscaling or cropping the input image by correctinginput image data corresponding to the input image based on the luminancedeviation of the first image.
 3. The display device of claim 2, whereinthe data corrector is configured to correct the input image data suchthat the first image is not displayed in the surrounding display areaand the second image is displayed in the main display area when theluminance deviation of the first image is greater than a referenceluminance deviation.
 4. The display device of claim 2, wherein the datacorrector is configured to correct the input image data such that thesecond image is displayed in the main display area and an edge image ofthe second image is expanded and displayed in the surrounding displayarea when the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than areference luminance deviation.
 5. The display device of claim 4, whereinthe data corrector is configured to additionally correct the input imagedata such that a luminance of the surrounding display area is decreasedas a distance from the main display area is increased when the edgeimage of the second image is expanded and displayed in the surroundingdisplay area.
 6. The display device of claim 2, wherein the datacorrector is configured to correct the input image data such that thefirst image is not displayed in the surrounding display area and thefirst image and the second image are displayed in the main display areawhen the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than areference luminance deviation.
 7. The display device of claim 2, whereinthe data corrector is configured to correct the input image data suchthat the first image and the second image are displayed in the maindisplay area and an edge image of the first image is expanded anddisplayed in the surrounding display area when the luminance deviationof the first image is greater than a reference luminance deviation. 8.The display device of claim 7, wherein the data corrector is configuredto additionally correct the input image data such that a luminance ofthe surrounding display area is decreased as a distance from the maindisplay area is increased when the edge image of the first image isexpanded and displayed in the surrounding display area.
 9. The displaydevice of claim 2, wherein the data corrector is configured to correctthe input image data such that the first image is displayed in thesurrounding display area, the second image is displayed in the maindisplay area, and a boundary between the surrounding display area andthe main display area is prevented from being visually recognized to auser when the luminance deviation of the first image is smaller than areference luminance deviation.
 10. The display device of claim 9,wherein the data corrector is configured to additionally correct theinput image data such that a luminance of the surrounding display areais decreased as a distance from the main display area is increased whenthe first image is displayed in the surrounding display area.
 11. Amethod of operating a display panel having a main display area and asurrounding display area surrounding the main display area, the methodcomprising the steps of: driving the display panel and dividing an inputimage to be displayed on the display panel in each frame into a firstimage to be displayed in the surrounding display area and a second imageto be displayed in the main display area; calculating a luminancedeviation of the first image; and determining whether to display thefirst image in the surrounding display area based on the luminancedeviation of the first image, wherein the display panel comprises atleast one panel driving circuit disposed under the surrounding displayarea, first pixels having a first pixel density and disposed in thesurrounding display area, and second pixels having a second pixeldensity greater than the first pixel density and disposed in the maindisplay area.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the stepof: downscaling or cropping the input image by correcting input imagedata corresponding to the input image based on the luminance deviationof the first image.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step ofcropping of the input image comprises the step of correcting the inputimage data such that the first image is not displayed in the surroundingdisplay area and the second image is displayed in the main display areawhen the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than areference luminance deviation.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein thestep of cropping of the input image comprises the step of correcting theinput image data such that the second image is displayed in the maindisplay area and an edge image of the second image is expanded anddisplayed in the surrounding display area when the luminance deviationof the first image is greater than a reference luminance deviation. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein the step of cropping of the input imagefurther comprises the step of correcting the input image data such thata luminance of the surrounding display area is decreased as a distancefrom the main display area is increased when the edge image of thesecond image is expanded and displayed in the surrounding display area.16. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of downscaling of the inputimage comprises the step of correcting the input image data such thatthe first image is not displayed in the surrounding display area and thefirst image and the second image are displayed in the main display areawhen the luminance deviation of the first image is greater than areference luminance deviation.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein thestep of downscaling of the input image comprises the step of correctingthe input image data such that the first image and the second image aredisplayed in the main display area and an edge image of the first imageis expanded and displayed in the surrounding display area when theluminance deviation of the first image is greater than a referenceluminance deviation.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step ofdownscaling of the input image further comprises the step of correctingthe input image data such that a luminance of the surrounding displayarea is decreased as a distance from the main display area is increasedwhen the edge image of the first image is expanded and displayed in thesurrounding display area.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein the stepof correcting of the input image data comprises the step of correctingthe input image data such that the first image is displayed in thesurrounding display area, the second image is displayed in the maindisplay area, and a boundary between the surrounding display area andthe main display area is prevented from being visually recognized to auser when the luminance deviation of the first image is smaller than areference luminance deviation.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein thestep of correcting of the input image data further comprises the step ofcorrecting the input image data such that a luminance of the surroundingdisplay area is decreased as a distance from the main display area isincreased when the first image is displayed in the surrounding displayarea.
 21. A display device comprising: a display panel comprising asurrounding display area, below which at least one panel driving circuitis positioned, and a main display area surrounded by the surroundingdisplay area, the display panel comprising first pixels having a firstsize and disposed in the surrounding display area and second pixelshaving a second size smaller than the first size and disposed in themain display area; and a display panel driver configured to divide aninput image to be displayed on the display panel in each frame into afirst image to be displayed on the surrounding display area and a secondimage to be displayed on the main display area, calculate a luminancedeviation of the first image, and determine whether to display the firstimage in the surrounding display area based on the luminance deviationof the first image.
 22. A method of operating a display panel having amain display area and a surrounding display area surrounding the maindisplay area, the method comprising the steps of: driving the displaypanel and dividing an input image to be displayed on the display panelin each frame into a first image to be displayed in the surroundingdisplay area and a second image to be displayed in the main displayarea; calculating a luminance deviation of the first image; anddetermining whether to display the first image in the surroundingdisplay area based on the luminance deviation of the first image,wherein the display panel comprises at least one panel driving circuitdisposed under the surrounding display area, first pixels having a firstsize and disposed in the surrounding display area, and second pixelshaving a second size smaller than the first size and disposed in themain display area.